LG smart TVs face privacy questions over always-on listening, company responds

You might assume that once a TV is switched off, it stops seeing or hearing anything. But a recent report has raised questions about that assumption. Two large YouTube channels, Gamers Nexus and Level1Techs, carried out about 500 hours of testing on LG smart TVs. During this testing, they claimed the TV kept up some activity even when switched off.

They said audio data kept leaving the TV even when its screen was off, meaning the TV was picking up conversations. During the test they also turned off the internet, and the TV still saved that data in its memory. As soon as the internet came back on, the data was sent to the company's servers.

LG issued a clarification soon after the allegation. The company said, "Our TV does not record anyone's conversations without permission." LG said the TV only listens when someone presses the voice button on the remote or says "Hi LG." If the user does not say anything, or the TV cannot understand a command, that audio is deleted immediately and never reaches the company's servers. However, debate continues over how the researchers detected this audio traffic.

The test also turned up another finding. The researchers used a tool called Wireshark, which shows what is happening on a network. This revealed that LG's TV was scanning other devices in the house too, such as phones, smartwatches, laptops and nearby Wi-Fi networks. This does not mean the TV is reading photos or messages on your phone, only that it checks which devices are connected to the network. According to LG, this feature exists in all smart TVs and is needed to connect other devices in the home.

It is not just audio the TV tracks, it also keeps a watch on what you are viewing on screen. This is called ACR, or Automatic Content Recognition. The TV can tell what you are watching on YouTube, on Netflix, or even on another device connected through HDMI. Advertisements are shown to you based on this information, for instance, watching cricket could bring up an advertisement for a cricket bat.

What is true and what is not will only become clear between LG and the researchers. But one thing is certain: buyers should check the privacy settings of a smart TV before purchasing it, and turn off the microphone option if it is not needed.